Twenty reasons why I love America:
1. When there is need in our own country or anywhere around the world, Americans are usually the first to step up and help out.
2. We’ve won more Olympic medals than any other country in the world.
3. The mountains in the fall. The beaches in the summer. Truly, this is a country of great natural beauty.
4. The American “never say die” attitude. How else do you explain a stadium full of people in Cleveland who think the Browns will one day go to the Super Bowl?
5. If you live in the North and you don’t like that fact that ground is covered by two feet of snow and ice for four months of the year, you are free to move to the South. Judging by the number of Northerners who now have Florida addresses, I’m not the only one who feels this way.
6. Sandra Bullock movies.
7. Re-runs of “The Andy Griffith Show.” My favorite episode is when Andy tries to explain to Opie why he should give to the underprivileged children’s drive, telling him there’s one and a half needy boys per square mile in Mayberry. “I ain’t never seen one,” Opie says. “Seen what?” Andy asks. “A half a boy.”
8. Re-runs of “The West Wing.”
9. Bacon cheeseburgers. Even a guy trying to get his body in shape needs a bacon cheeseburger every now and then.
10. The 1st Amendment. It’s my favorite amendment, as you might imagine, given my profession. I love that I can speak and write my opinion without the government arresting me. I also like that other people are free to speak and write their opinions, too. It makes it easier to identify the ignorant and ill-informed among us.
11. We drink our beer cold, unlike some folks in other parts of the world.
12. A baseball game, preferably with a bag of peanuts and the aforementioned cold beer. Hot dog with mustard and onions is optional.
13. College football, particularly the version played by a certain team in Athens.
14. Dogs, particularly the one who lives at my house.
15. Country music. Well, real country music. Waylon and Willie and the boys. Not so sure about that stuff they call country music today.
16. David Letterman. I still miss his show, and Fallon, Colbert and Kimmel will never replace him.
17. Men don’t wear kilts in America. That’s good. I don’t have the legs for it.
18. Coca-Cola. I don’t drink much Coca-Cola anymore – Chelsea the trainer is against it – but when I do, I remember just how good an ice-cold Coke is.
19. The fact that we get to go to the polls and choose our leaders. As I write this, it’s Election Day in Gainesville and I’m about to go choose a city council member. I just wish we were all smarter about who we vote for.
20. Despite the bloviating nonsense from both parties in Washington, the overwhelming sense from the rest of us is that we’re all in this thing together
